Reuters - An appeals court on Tuesday found California's gay marriage ban unconstitutional in a case that may lead to a showdown in the Supreme Court.

AP - Greek coalition leaders are studying a draft deal on harsh cutbacks needed to secure a euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout that will help the country avoid a looming bankruptcy next month.

AP - The United States appears to be out of answers on what to do with Syria.

AP - A Missouri teenager who confessed to murdering a 9-year-old girl faces the possibility of life in prison when she's sentenced Wednesday morning.

Reuters - Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.2 to 0.3 percent.

AP - The transfer of thousands of U.S. Marines to Guam will not require the prior closure of a base on the southern Japan island of Okinawa, the United States and Japan announced Wednesday in a compromise they hope will break a stalemate over opposition to the large U.S. military presence there.

Reuters - The ousted president of the Maldives, credited with bringing democracy to the Indian Ocean island resort, said on Wednesday he was forced out of power at gunpoint and urged his successor to step down.

AP - Republican Rick Santorum is looking to capitalize on a string of stunning victories that snapped his four-state losing streak and raised new questions about front-runner Mitt Romney's clout with conservatives.

AP - Conservative critics like to point out that the federal appeals court that just declared California's same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional has its decisions overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court more often than other judicial circuits, a record that could prove predictive if the high court agrees to review the gay marriage case on appeal.

AP - Shot through the upper back on a rooftop in Afghanistan and gasping for breath after a bullet ripped through his chest, Marine Sgt. Ben Tomlinson had a fear worse than death.

AP - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shifted his focus from the economy to abortion, religious freedom and gay marriage in recent days, part of an intensified effort to win over social conservatives in states voting Tuesday.

AP - A senior EU official say the bloc will soon impose harsher sanctions against Syria as it seeks to weaken the regime and end President Bashar Assad's crackdown against political opponents.

AP - Move over, coffee and Red Bull. A Harvard professor thinks the next big thing will be people inhaling their caffeine from a lipstick-sized tube. Critics say the novel product is not without its risks.

AP - The police commissioner's TV host son has been cleared of the prospect of criminal charges of raping a woman he met for a drink, but it's not clear how quickly he might return to his spot as a jocular morning-show host.

AP - Greek coalition leaders are studying a draft deal on further austerity measures demanded to secure a new bailout that will determine whether the country avoids a looming bankruptcy next month.

AP - House Republicans have introduced their version of a bill to ban insider trading by thousands of federal officials, and have added provisions to bar lawmakers convicted of a felony from collecting their government pensions.

AP - The move by school district administrators to replace the entire staff at an elementary school rocked by teacher sex abuse claims was a bold step to restore parents' badly shaken confidence at the school, but it has been met with mixed feelings.

AP - Police released 911 calls that revealed a social worker's frantic attempts to alert authorities that Josh Powell had locked himself in his home with his two young sons, moments before he set off a huge fire that killed all inside.

AP - Mitt Romney just can't shake his difficulty attracting conservatives. And that reality is undercutting his effort to cast himself as the inevitable Republican presidential nominee and prolonging a race that each day exposes deep divisions within the party.